But RPI got better as the season progressed despite crazy roster turnover and turmoil, played Colgate tough with a freshman goalie, and is playing a more structured system that needs time to adjust. 2/2

Re: RPI 2018 Off-Season: The Hunt for Red October

I suspect that a topic for conversation this off-season will certainly be the makeup of next season’s team. Let me initiate the discussion. I will post separately about goalies, defensemen and forwards.

The first post is about goalies. This is the simplest, but there are still questions. All three goalies, Perry, St.Denis, and Marshall, are eligible to return and we have one goalie recruit, Owen Savory. OS is a 97, so he must come in the fall. I don’t think that we will keep four goalies, so someone must be leaving. I think that Chase Perry will turn pro. He cannot transfer since he has already done that once.

Re: RPI 2018 Off-Season: The Hunt for Red October

We have six defensemen eligible to return, Moore, Grant, Samec, Manley, Reilly, and Harris. We have four defensemen who are listed to come in the fall, Modry, Babichuk, Ferner, and Hallbauer. Note that Shane Bear who I had listed as a 2018 recruit is not eligible at that time since he played for UMA in the fall.

I suspect that Modry has decommited or was told by the staff that we are no longer interested. He still could come in 2019. Ferner and Hallbauer are 97's and have aged out of juniors. Babichuk could return to juniors, but I expect that he won’t. We could go with 9 defensemen as we have had that many before or one of the existing defnders could be leaving. I heard a rumor in that regard and can’t mention it. Of course we still could have other defensemen whom we don’t know about yet to muddy the situation more. BTW, the three new d-men as well as Bear are all shorter that 6-foot tall which may indicate a direction which Coach Smith is going.

Re: RPI 2018 Off-Season: The Hunt for Red October

The forward situation is the most complicated. We have 14 eligible to return, Wiffen, J. Ohrvall, Tironese, Hayhurst, Marrello, Polino, Reisinger, Burgess, E. Ohrvall, Stout, Burke, Jerry, Richards, and Ott. Mike Gornell, a North Dakota transfer, is already on campus. There are seven forwards who are due to arrive in the fall, Ashbrook, Lacka, DiGrande, Bendorf, Linden, Bowman, and Lee. That makes a total of 22 and there could be others whom we know nothing about. I don’t think anyone has suggested that we will keep 22. 15 or 16 seems most likely.

Of the newcomers, DiGrande, Linden, Bowman, and Lee are aging out of juniors and must come. Lacka, Ashbrook, and Bendorf could all go back to juniors. I do think that all will come. Ashbrook has signed a letter of intent which is another indication that he will show up in the fall. We don’t know about the other two. Bendorf already appears in the on-line RPI directory which is a sign that he intends to come. Lacka is the most likely to defer to 2019.

I received some indication of players likely to leave which I won’t mention. Also the Ohrvall brothers have not played much lately which makes me wonder about them. Stout, a late Appert recruit, may leave, but he has played more recently. We heard rumors at the beginning of this year that Hayhurst had to be convinced to stay at RPI. I certainly hope that he stays now. Any of the others could also leave, but it is far from clear to me who is likely.

I am very interested in others’ opinions on this and the previous two posts.

Re: RPI 2018 Off-Season: The Hunt for Red October

Originally Posted by Ralph Baer

I suspect that a topic for conversation this off-season will certainly be the makeup of next season’s team. Let me initiate the discussion. I will post separately about goalies, defensemen and forwards.

The first post is about goalies. This is the simplest, but there are still questions. All three goalies, Perry, St.Denis, and Marshall, are eligible to return and we have one goalie recruit, Owen Savory. OS is a 97, so he must come in the fall. I don’t think that we will keep four goalies, so someone must be leaving. I think that Chase Perry will turn pro. He cannot transfer since he has already done that once.

Comments?

The obvious choice would be that either St. Denis or Savory goes to the club squad. I don't see Perry signing, especially if he wasn't able to earn the #1 spot this year. However, who knows what the "sophomore slump" will bring.

Re: RPI 2018 Off-Season: The Hunt for Red October

Originally Posted by FlagDUDE08

The obvious choice would be that either St. Denis or Savory goes to the club squad. I don't see Perry signing, especially if he wasn't able to earn the #1 spot this year. However, who knows what the "sophomore slump" will bring.

I would be surprised if Savory is not on some level of athletic scholarship and St. Denis probably also. If they are, I don't think they can play ACHA hockey, and we wouldn't waste scholarship money on club hockey players anyway.

Re: RPI 2018 Off-Season: The Hunt for Red October

Re: RPI 2018 Off-Season: The Hunt for Red October

Originally Posted by Ralph Baer

I would be surprised if Savory is not on some level of athletic scholarship and St. Denis probably also. If they are, I don't think they can play ACHA hockey, and we wouldn't waste scholarship money on club hockey players anyway.

Don't know about ACHA, but I do know you're limited on the NCAA sanctioned sports (Craig Bokenfohr and Kevin Beauregard were walk-ons, so they could play golf and lacrosse respectively). You're probably correct, though, in that the monies are utilized elsewhere. We know for sure that the NLI means scholarship because it's part of the contract. Do we know which of our current players were known to have signed the NLI, even if it was for a previous year? I highly doubt a scholarship would be revoked and them still be here.

Re: RPI 2018 Off-Season: The Hunt for Red October

I would be shocked if Perry comes back next year. If Detroit is interested in him at all, they will find a place where he can get some ice time.
As far as the forwards, the only one I would miss if he left is Hayhurst. Burgess was a big bust as far as I was concerned. He should spend the off season shooting in a net. I would love to see the percentage of his shots taken that actually had to be saved. I think that he could fix that, and I hope he does, because he gets himself into good positions, but just doesn't come close to finishing.
If we had five guys playing with broken bones as the coach said, I would give them full marks for their effort this weekend.
As for the defense, we are losing our two best offensive defensemen. But I think that they can be replaced by Reilly and I liked the way Samec played offense when he got the chance.
I don't know what to expect from the incoming freshmen, but hopefully someone can score goals. We have a lot of potential in that area with Hayhurst, Jerry and Tironese, but they haven't closed the deal near enough. I would expect improvement from all of those guys.
I liked the way we played this year and if we continue to improve, we could go a long way next year. JMO

Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
Benjamin Franklin
The harder I practice, the luckier I get.
Gary Player

Re: RPI 2018 Off-Season: The Hunt for Red October

Originally Posted by FlagDUDE08

Don't know about ACHA, but I do know you're limited on the NCAA sanctioned sports (Craig Bokenfohr and Kevin Beauregard were walk-ons, so they could play golf and lacrosse respectively). You're probably correct, though, in that the monies are utilized elsewhere. We know for sure that the NLI means scholarship because it's part of the contract. Do we know which of our current players were known to have signed the NLI, even if it was for a previous year? I highly doubt a scholarship would be revoked and them still be here.

The only ones I know have signed NLI are Ashbrook and Ferner as well as four of the women recruits.

Re: RPI 2018 Off-Season: The Hunt for Red October

This was more than a 6 wins team. Will, Vik and Praps were a solid Sr. class. There were pieces there, Reilly and Hayhurst are solid D1 players. For those on this thread that blamed Seth for in game coaching decisions, they need to rethink that position because as Mr. Macadam from the Gazette said he is not assigning blame to Smith. The support for this program is less than zero from the administration. I don’t blame Lee for not having hockey expertise but the criticism still stands that people that should have been involved with the coaching search were swept aside (see hockey alumni criticism). The decision was made in an insular fashion by people who don’t know hockey.
Lee owns this whole disaster. It is his watch. I have no confidence that he is engaged enough to try and make this better.
I agree with Ralph that we will see a massive movement of players. This too will cause tumult because parents and prospective recruits will wonder if RPI will keep their commitment to the student athletes they recruit.
Shirley will be gone at the latest in 2020 and I surmise Lee will go when she does. It will be up the next admin to make this right.
Thank you to Vik, Willy and Praps for coming to Troy. I’m looking forward to what the future holds for the three of you.

"Rick not want to be know as tough guy, Rick want to be known as team guy" Rick "Mongo" Bennett

Re: RPI 2018 Off-Season: The Hunt for Red October

Originally Posted by AspyDad

This was more than a 6 wins team. Will, Vik and Praps were a solid Sr. class. There were pieces there, Reilly and Hayhurst are solid D1 players. For those on this thread that blamed Seth for in game coaching decisions, they need to rethink that position because as Mr. Macadam from the Gazette said he is not assigning blame to Smith. The support for this program is less than zero from the administration. I don’t blame Lee for not having hockey expertise but the criticism still stands that people that should have been involved with the coaching search were swept aside (see hockey alumni criticism). The decision was made in an insular fashion by people who don’t know hockey.
Lee owns this whole disaster. It is his watch. I have no confidence that he is engaged enough to try and make this better.
I agree with Ralph that we will see a massive movement of players. This too will cause tumult because parents and prospective recruits will wonder if RPI will keep their commitment to the student athletes they recruit.
Shirley will be gone at the latest in 2020 and I surmise Lee will go when she does. It will be up the next admin to make this right.
Thank you to Vik, Willy and Praps for coming to Troy. I’m looking forward to what the future holds for the three of you.

Anyone who watched the games closely saw the in-game adjustments Smith was actually able to make, which is something we never saw under Appert. Not to meniton, the team mentally instead of all-star mentality. Anyone who blames Smith is out of their mind.

People need to get over the decision made last year. What's done is done. Belly-ache in 4 years if nothing changes.

I will be shocked if the empress is gone in 2 years. So long as she's able to walk and have drivel come out of her mouth, she will remain in that position.